Modell's Sporting Goods

History

The chain was founded as a single store by Morris A. Modell in 1889 in the Manhattan borough of New York City, making it possibly the third-oldest sporting goods store in North America (after James F. Brine's in Massachusetts and Milwaukee's Burghardt Sporting Goods).

Modell, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, opened the first location on Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan. (The Modell pawn shop chain in Manhattan and Brooklyn was founded by Morris's brother George in 1893 as a spinoff. The two companies operate separately.)

Through the years, it remained a family-owned business, passing through four generations of the Modell family. While best known as a sporting-goods retailer, Modell's also operated a chain of "full-line" discount retailers in the New York City-metropolitan area known as "Modell's Shopper's World" (and for a short time as "White-Modells") from the mid-1950s up until 1989, when the company decided to focus on its sporting-goods operations partly due to increased competition in the discount retail market.

William Modell, who became chairman in 1985, also founded the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation along with his wife, Shelby Modell.

Modell's at one time operated 152 stores,

Mitchell Modell, the company's chief executive officer, was featured on an episode of the television series Undercover Boss that aired on November 2, 2012, in which he went in disguise into his own stores to see things from an employee point of view. Two years later, he was accused in a February 2014 lawsuit by rival Dick's Sporting Goods of entering a Dick's store in disguise to gain access to its retail secrets. The lawsuit was settled out of court on undisclosed terms by April. Independent retail analysts and attorneys suggested that Modell visited the store on a whim, rather than as part of some plot to steal information.{{cite news |last1=Verdon |access-date=17 October 2014|work=The Record |publisher=NorthJersey.com}}

In February 2020, the company announced that it would close 24 underperforming stores in an effort to stave off bankruptcy. The company also announced that it had hired financial advisers following a disappointing 2019 holiday season. The company also stopped paying a unspecified number of landlords and some of its vendors and had started discussions with suppliers in another effort to prevent losing any further cash. However, it was not enough to save the company, and on March 11, 2020, Modell's Sporting Goods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced it would permanently close all of its remaining stores. However, liquidation sales were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing all brick-and-mortar stores to temporarily close. Once Modell's locations began reopening, liquidation sales continued, and all stores were closed by the end of August 2020.

On August 20, 2020, all of the company's assets were acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures for $3.6 million, and it announced that the company would be coming back as a digital-only brand. In March 2023, Retail Ecommerce Ventures announced that it would be exploring options in effort to save itself, including a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which would mark Modell's second bankruptcy in three years. The company has also hired restructuring lawyers in effort to stave off bankruptcy.

Local sports affiliations

Modell's had local, specialized offerings and programs such as Team Weeks, which assisted local schools, leagues, and non-profit organizations. Modell's sponsored many professional sports teams in its U.S. East Coast market area, including the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Mets, New York Yankees, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, as well as numerous minor league baseball teams.

Some writers attributed at least some of Modell's problems during the 2010s due to the poor performance of New York sports teams in that decade, and the difficulty in selling the team-related merchandise.

Art Modell, who owned the NFL football teams Cleveland Browns and then Baltimore Ravens, was the grandson of the founder of Modell's Sporting Goods, Morris A. Modell, but had nothing to do with that company. A perceived affiliation was hoped to be useful when Modell Sporting Goods attempted to penetrate Maryland markets in 2004 – a spokesman stated, "I think that Art Modell having brought a team to Baltimore that won a Super Bowl championship can help in some ways" – but the expansion was ultimately not successful.

References

References

1. "About Us {{!}} Modell's Sporting Goods". Modell's Sporting Goods.
2. Verdon, Joan. "The Name Game: Why Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr Bought Modell's and Other Retail Brands".
3. Hajewski, Doris. (2006-08-27). "Burghardt's Takes Team Approach as It Passes Ball Down the Line". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
4. (11 August 2016). "SGB 2016 Retail Top 100: The List {{!}} SGB Media Online".
5. "Crohn's & Colitis Foundation". [[Crohn's & Colitis Foundation]].
6. "Harem Theatre in New York, NY - Cinema Treasures".
7. ABC News. (March 4, 2014). "Dick's Sporting Goods Accuses Rival Modell's of Spying". [[ABC News (United States).
8. Wilson, Marianne. (February 20, 2020). "Modell's Reportedly to Close 24 Stores as It Fights to Stay Afloat".
9. D'Innocenzio, Anne. (11 March 2020). "Sporting Goods Chain Modell's to Close Its Remaining Stores".
10. Biswas, Soma. (11 March 2020). "Modell's Files for Bankruptcy, Plans to Close Down All Stores". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
11. (August 20, 2020). "Modell's Will Become Digital-Only with $3.6 Million Purchase by Retail Ecommerce Ventures".
12. (March 2, 2023). "Retail Ecommerce Ventures, Buyer of Moribund Brands, Hires Advisers for Its Own Struggles".
13. Vigdor, Neil. (2020-03-12). "Modell's Sporting Goods to Close All Stores after Bankruptcy Filing". [[The New York Times]].
14. Barry, Dan. (2019-12-30). "The Lost Decade of New York Sports". [[The New York Times]].
15. (12 August 2004). "Modell's Blitzes Baltimore". Tribune Publishing.